Port recall effort takes to Web

The Washington state Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on whether a recall petition against Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis can go forward, but petitioner Chris Clifford — a schoolteacher from Renton and open government activist — has already set up the Website he hopes will be the platform for collecting roughly 150,000 signatures to put the recall on the King County ballot this fall.

Clifford has accused Davis of malfeasance, the gifting of public funds and violation of the Open Public Meetings Act for her role in signing an October 2006 memo that sought to grant now-retired port Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore up to an extra year of his salary after his retirement in March 2007 to join a hedge fund.

In May 2007, King County Superior Court Judge Charles Mertel ruled that Clifford could proceed, but Davis appealed to the Supreme Court, which took over a year to schedule the hearing for the last day before their summer recess. Clifford says he wants to be able to collect the signatures online: “If you can vote electronically, shouldn’t you be able to sign a petition electronically?” he said.